FHSAA 7A Girls Basketball State Semifinals: Colonial and Dr. Phillips reach the state finals
LAKELAND, FLORIDA – Friday's FHSAA Class 7A Girls Basketball state semifinals featured a pair of close battles at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, as Colonial (Orland) topped Doral Academy, 55-49, and Dr. Phillips (Orlando) held off Winter Haven, 65-62, to setup Saturday's 7A championship game. The Grenadiers and Panthers will square at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, again at the RP Funding Center.
In the earlier contest, Colonial held a 29-17 lead at the half and still led by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Doral battled back with a 9-0 fourth quarter run to make things interesting.
Carmen Richardson was the driving force for the Grenadiers as she scored a game-high 18 points. Jalei O'Neal added 11 points, while Destinie Gordon had a game-high 8 rebound, to go with 5 points.
Colonial shot a solid 42.9% from the floor and outscored Doral 34-16 in the paint.
Carmen Richardson paced Colonial on offense with 18 points as the Grenadiers defeated Doral Academy, 55-49, in the FHSAA Class 7A Girls Basketball State Semifinals. Colonial will face Dr. Phillips on Saturday in the state championship game.
Doral had a 6-3 edge in 3-pointers made, including two each from Ashley Martinez and Victoria Valle. Valle had a team-high 12 points and she added 5 rebounds and a steal. Martinez and Angelina Deleon combined for 17 points.
2024 FHSAA CLASS 7A GIRLS BASKETBALL BRACKET
The second contest was a real barn-burner, with Winter Haven missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer and a follow-up shot all in the final 10 seconds before absorbing a 3-point loss. Dr. Phillips led throughout the final quarter but the lead dwindled to just 10 points on two occasions in the final two minutes.
Trinity Turner scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lift Dr. Phillips and three other Panthers reach double digits. Kendall Perry finished with 12 points, Sariah Johnson had 11 and Anilys Rolon scored 10. In addition, Elise Horne had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Serenity Hardy was the star for Winter Haven, scoring a game-high 26 points. Teammates Quin'nya Gray de Sanders and Dashanique Henry scored 11 points each. Victoria Hall and Henry led the way on the boards for the Blue Devils, collecting 9 rebounds each. Jaeden Williams also had a strong all-around game with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a block.
Winter Haven started fast and led 18-14 at the end of one quarter, but Dr. Phillips out-scored the Blue Devils 34-22 over the middle two quarters.
